


Anthem

by orphan_account



Series: Inferno [1]
Category: A Song of Ice and Fire - George R. R. Martin, Game of Thrones (TV)
Genre: Action, Military, Modern AU, Multi
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-02-18
Updated: 2015-02-18
Packaged: 2018-03-13 14:30:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 784
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3385226
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Westeros, the land of the long and happy summer...<br/>And winter is coming.<br/>When a horrifying threat arises from the outlying Far North, all that stands between it and the nation is the almost fallen night's watch. And, as aspiring officer Jon "snow" Stark discovers, the watch cannot make it alone.<br/>Further South on the island naval base of Dragonstone, Commander Admiral Stannis Baratheon faces a dilemma; Should he march North to heed the Watch, or should he head to the Capital, where the infamous Lannister clan threatens to take the omnipotent iron throne in a veritable Storm of power?<br/>Meanwhile in the outlying lands of Vaes Dothrak, rookie fighter pilot Daenerys Targaryen uncovers the remains of three "dragons"; super power fighter jets that just may become the salvation of Westeros.<br/>And in the capital of King's Landing, unlikely hero Tyrion Lannister must create an even more unlikely fellowship for all of Westeros.<br/>And it's not so easy when each of them have ghosts of their own...</p>
            </blockquote>





	Anthem

**Author's Note:**

> Hi, so this is me trying to make a Westeros military AU. It's been buzzing in my head for a long while, and I'm pretty excited on taking it to air.  
> Wish me luck, here goes nothing!

_Cold...._

There's only one word Will can really use to define what's beyond the wall and it's that. Really. He's a ranger and he ought to be used to it by now, but no. Not colds like this. The earth beneath him is covered in a foot of snow, and that's frozen solid. Every puff of breath he lets out curls like smoke misting up in front of his eyes.

_Like an ice Dragon._

They've been out a week, trekking all the way, because it's too cold for anything else and their truck would get stuck in the snow before any of them could say "castle black" Besides, Ben Stark was on foot when the signal got cut.

 _Ben Stark._ Will feels a harsh chill running up his spine. Brigadier Benjen Stark is the First Ranger, the best by a stretch. They were shocked beyond words when he disappeared somewhere off Frostfangs. No signal, that was usual. No return. That was not. 

Ben Stark had disappeared, and with the dwindling numbers of the Night's watch, that was not a good thing. 

Lord Commander Mormont had sent them, three of them, Gared, Waymar and Will, to find Benjen. They had started out at Castle Black, shivering because beyond the wall was so  _fucking_ cold, and apprehensive, because old Gared had said he'd never felt a colder cold in all thirty years at the wall. 

And then Waymar disappeared. 

They'd been terrified at first, and then panic made way to a strange sort of calm.  _Waymar must have followed some tracking trail that he forgot to tell us about._ Typical Waymar, though. Thought he was better than everyone else in the squad. Probably thought he could find Stark on his own.

 _Stark's the most seasoned ranger in the Watch._ Will thinks.  _You'd be fucking crazy to think you could face off whatever got him._

And that had been thirty hours ago.

Now they were on a desperate search for Waymar, wherever he was.

"You, boy! Will!" Will spins around just in time to see Gared hobbling in behind him. "Gared!" He calls. The old man huffs. "Did you find him?"

"Not hide, not hair. Thought I heard something this way."

"You did?" 

"Aye. Didn't you?"

"No..." That's odd. Will didn't hear a thing out of place. Then again, beyond the wall was an eerie place. An eerie, eerie, lonely place. 

_If ever a land could be haunted, it would be this._

Will doesn't believe in ghosts. Gared's not too sure.

_"And what where the others then?" he asked at the fire, on their third day. "What where the others, if not ghosts, phantom creatures of ice and hatred?"_

"Did you try his contacts again?" Gared asks. "He's left it at camp." Grinds Will. Gared snorts. "Idiot boy."

"More like overconfident. I s'pose he wants all the glory to himself. There's no glory in the Night's Watch." Will says, vehement.

Gared nods. "Too bad he didn't get the note."

There's a moment of peace for the two of them. And then

_Thud._

Will turns in a flash.

"Lad?" 

"Did you hear that, Gared? Did you hear it?

"I have no idea what you're-"  _Thud._

"There!" Will screams. "There it is, again!" It's someone. Waymar? Stark? He rushes forward, following the sound, heedless of Gared trying to catch up.

But Will can't wait for Gared to catch up. There's something there, and it's probably Waymar or maybe even Stark. At any rate it's worth whetting his curiosity over. He rushes through a thicket of trees and-

oh God. Oh, GOD!

Blood. Blood everywhere.

Painting the white snow in every shade of red. Will couldn't bear look at it for too long.

And there, in the centre of the pool of blood-

"Will!" He turns back to look. but there's no Gared.

There's not even the sound of his feet.

"Gared!" He shouts, hoarsely.(though he can barely speak).

"Gared! Come look at this!"

But there's no Gared.

Will feels the air grow a little colder. 

_Any colder than this and the clouds and the air and the sky will all freeze over._

He huddles to himself. 

_Thud._

Will freezes. This is fear, like he has never known before.

"Gared?" He calls, softly.

_Thud._

"Please. Stop this. Whoever you are." He's nearly hysterical now. Nearly wild.

There's a drawing of shuddering breath by his ear, and the air grows colder yet.

Will tries to scream, but the sound, like the air about, is frozen in his throat.

The last thing he sees before the freezing cold blackness takes him, is the white shadow at the corner of his eyes, swirling and swirling like a morning mist on the moor....


End file.
